Nakba

What does it mean to represent history visually? What happens when we throw off the burden of language and discourse, turning instead to the outside world, which bears the physical traces of its past and speaks directly of the human tragedies to which it is testimony? Max Francos’ accomplished film bypasses the traditional documentary form and constructs a historical narrative entirely without words. Nakba (meaning 'catastrophe' or 'disaster' in Arabic) refers to the diaspora of 1948 in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes during the Palestine war and the creation of the state of Israel. The deserted landscapes and decaying, abandoned buildings become a memorial ground for these events, leading the viewer towards a gradual understanding of this tragic event in Palestinian history.

Screening with:

All the House (Haditha Massacre), Part 3 of Flicker On Off

Caroline Koebel /

USA /

2008 /

6 mins

Imad recounts her family's slaughter by US Marines in Iraq, intercut with scenes from The Godfather III.

Director: Caroline Koebel

In Transit

Lida Abdul /

Austria, Afghanistan /

2008 /

5 mins

Children on the outskirts of Kabul play innocently with the abandoned carcasses of warplanes.

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